Brainwaves weekly issue 47: fun crafts to try at home

Bright idea
I wanted to make my granddaughter something for her bedroom, so I raided my sewing things and came up with the idea for some bunting. I had some scraps of fabric, so I got to work straightaway, cutting triangles out of them. Then I used binding to string them together and felt to add letters and hearts. I also sewed on some pretty buttons as embellishments. I was thrilled with the results and I’ve had other people asking me to make some for them too!
Jackie Turpin, Bromsgrove, Worcs

Off the peg
I needed a new peg bag but I was too Scrooge to buy one, so I thought I’d make one using a dress my granddaughter had grown out of. I cut an opening across the front, then stitched the bottom hem together — and voila! One peg bag and it
was soooo easy! My granddaughter is always in charge of handing me the pegs, so she’s happy too.
Jeannette Hunter, Wakefield, W Yorks

Bin bath
I wanted a bird bath in my new house, but I couldn’t find one in the shops. I had an old bin lid hanging around, so I thought I’d try using that. I filled it with water and added a couple of bricks that the birds could perch on and popped it out in my garden. The birds absolutely love it. It’s cooling for them when the weather’s warm and they can drink from it in the winter too.
Emily Marr, Forfar, Angus

Let’s face it
I wanted some more decorative pots for my house plants. But instead of spending lots of money on them, I decided to jazz up some of the plain ones I had myself. I used old earrings, beads and stones I already had and used a glue gun to create this fancy face. Now I have a unique pot that didn’t cost me a penny!
Michaela Mace, Wymondham, Norfolk

Paw-fect treat
I was trying to think of a way to get my dog’s treats to last longer and make a fun activity for her as well. So, I found a cheap tea towel I had in a drawer and cut it into three strips. I knotted the ends together, then plaited the strips, knotting the other end too. I also put a few stitches through the ends to make it extra secure. I hid some treats in the folds, then gave it to my Jack Russell Maisie to play with. She loved it — and it took her ages to get all the treats out too. It can go in the wash if it gets grubby and it didn’t cost me anything either. Paw-fect!
Alison Balch, York

N-ice paint pallet
My daughter Olivia, three, wanted to do some painting, but I needed to find something to put her paint into. Digging around in the cupboards, I found an ice-cube tray and squeezed a bit of paint into each section. It worked wonders. As the tray is deeper, we had less spillages and made less mess.
Justine Machin, Preston, Lancs